Desert Inn

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The Desert Inn, also known as the D.I., was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, which operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000. Designed by architect Hugh Taylor and interior design by Jac Lessman, it was the fifth resort to open on the Strip, the first four being El Rancho Vegas, The New Frontier, Flamingo, and the El Rancho (then known as the Thunderbird). It was situated between Desert Inn Road and Sands Avenue.

The Desert Inn opened with 300 rooms and the Sky Room restaurant, headed by a chef formerly of the Ritz Paris, which once had the highest vantage point on the Las Vegas Strip. The casino, at Template:Convert, was one of the largest in Nevada at the time. The nine-story St. Andrews Tower was completed during the first renovation in 1963, and the 14-story Augusta Tower became the Desert Inn's main tower when it was completed in 1978 along with the seven-story Wimbledon Tower. The Palms Tower was completed in 1997 with the second and final renovation. The Desert Inn was the first hotel in Las Vegas to feature a fountain at the entrance. In 1997, the Desert Inn underwent a $200 million renovation and expansion, but after it was purchased for $270 million by Steve Wynn in 2000, he decided to demolish it and build the Wynn Las Vegas resort and casino where the Desert Inn once stood, and later, Encore. The remaining towers of the Desert Inn were imploded in 2004.

The original performance venue at the Desert Inn was the Painted Desert Room, later the Crystal Room, which opened in 1950 with 450 seats. Frank Sinatra made his Las Vegas debut there on September 13, 1951, and became a regular performer. The property included an 18-hole golf course which hosted the PGA Tour Tournament of Champions from 1953 to 1966. The golf course remained in place and is now a part of the Wynn resort.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

HistoryEdit

File:Girls at Desert Inn pool 1955.jpg

Young women at the hotel pool in 1955

File:Desert Inn front 1956.jpg

The hotel in 1956

The hotel was situated at 3145 Las Vegas Boulevard South, between Desert Inn Road and Sands Avenue.Template:Sfn The original name was Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn. Wilbur Clark, described by Frank Sinatra biographer James Kaplan as a "onetime San Diego bellhop and Reno craps dealer",Template:Sfn originally began building the resort with his brother in 1947 with $250,000, but ran out of money. Author Hal Rothman notes that "for nearly two years the framed structure sat in the hot desert sun, looking more like an ancient relic than a nascent casino".Template:Sfn Clark approached the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for investment, but it was struggling financially. In 1949, he met with Moe Dalitz, the head of the notorious Cleveland Syndicate, which had ties to the Mayfield Road Mob, and Dalitz agreed to fund 75% of the project with $1.3 million, and construction resumed.Template:Sfn Much of the financing came from the American National Insurance Company (ANICO),Template:Sfn though Clark became the public frontman of the resort while Dalitz remained quietly in the background as the principal owner. The resort would eventually be renamed Desert Inn and was called the "D.I." by Las Vegas locals and regular guests.Template:Sfn

The Desert Inn opened formally on April 24, 1950,Template:Sfn<ref name="LVS 2008-05-15">Template:Cite news</ref> at a two-day gala which was heavily publicized nationally. Journalists from all of the major newspapers and magazines were invited, and the hotel paid $5,700 to cover air tickets. 150 invitations were sent out by Clark to VIPs with a credit limit of $10,000. About half the attendees at the opening were from California and Nevada. At the opening show in the Painted Desert Room were performers such as Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Vivian Blaine, Pat Patrick, The Donn Arden Dancers, Van Heflin, Abbott and Costello, and the Desert Inn Orchestra, led by Ray Noble.<ref name="az">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In attendance were a number of mafiosi, including Black Bill Tocco, Joe Massei, Sam Maceo, Peter Licavoli, and Frank Malone in a gala which Barbara Greenspun believed marked the beginning of heavy involvement of the mafia in the development of Las Vegas.Template:Sfn Sidney Korshak was one of its early investors.Template:Sfn

The Desert Inn became known for its "opulence" and top-notch service.<ref name=brief/> The first manager of the Desert Inn had previously worked as the manager at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco.Template:Sfn Lew and Edie Wasserman were frequent guests of the hotel.Template:Sfn During the 1950s, the hotel often hosted the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Winston Churchill, Adlai Stevenson, Senator John F. Kennedy, and former President Harry S. Truman.<ref name=brief/>

In the mid 1940s and early 1950s the city and its Chamber of Commerce worked to keep the Vegas nickname of the "Atomic City" going to attract tourists.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After the Desert Inn opened, so called "bomb parties" famously took place in the hotel's panoramic Sky Room, where patrons could view the detonations from a relatively safe distance while drinking Atomic Cocktails.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1959, Lawrence Wien, owner of New York City's Plaza Hotel purchased the hotel, but signed a management deal for Clark to remain as manager.<ref name="sale to wien">Template:Cite news</ref> In the early 1960s, the mafia-financed casino hotels of the Las Vegas Strip and Nevada came under close scrutiny by the FBI, and they placed increased pressure on the Nevada Gaming Control Board to force the mobsters out of Las Vegas. After Sam Giancana was spotted on the premises of Frank Sinatra's Cal Neva Lodge & Casino at Lake Tahoe, his gambling license was removed by the Board and he was forced to sell up and forfeit his share in the Sands Hotel and Casino.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The Desert Inn faced similar scrutiny by the FBI, attracting controversy at the same time for the involvement of Dalitz and his mobster associates,<ref name="ON"/> but simultaneously called for the prosecution of the FBI for illegal wiretapping.<ref name=wiretap>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1964, Clark sold his remaining share in the hotel to Dalitz and business associates Morris Kleinman, Thomas McGinty and Sam Tucker. He died of a heart attack the following year. The bell captain of the Desert Inn, Jack Butler, remembered Clark: "Wilbur was the greatest guy. Without him this town never would've got off the ground. Everyone came into the club just to see him and he was all over the postcards. He was the only boss who would agree to have his picture taken".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Desert Inn's most famous guest, businessman Howard Hughes, arrived on Thanksgiving Day 1966, renting the hotel's entire top two floors.<ref name=pbs>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After staying past his initial ten-day reservation, he was asked to leave in December so that the resort could accommodate the high rollers who were expected for New Year's Eve. Instead of leaving, Hughes started negotiations to buy the Desert Inn.<ref name=sun/> On March 27, 1967,Template:Sfn Hughes purchased the resort from Dalitz for $6.2 million in cash and $7 million in loans.<ref name=pbs/> This was the first of many Las Vegas resort purchases by Hughes, including the Sands Hotel and Casino ($14.6 million) and the Frontier Hotel and Casino ($23 million).<ref name=sun/> However, Hughes refused to include the PGA Tour Tournament of Champions in the deal, so Dalitz moved the tournament to his Stardust Resort and Casino in 1967 and 1968.Template:Sfn

The reclusive Hughes continued to live in his penthouse suite at the Desert Inn for four years, never leaving his Template:Convert bedroom. Usually unclothed, he spent his time "negotiating purchases and business deals with the curtains drawn and windows and doors sealed shut with tape", and did not allow anyone from the hotel staff to come in and clean his room.<ref name=pbs/> On the eve of Thanksgiving 1970, he was removed from his room on a stretcher and flown to the Bahamas.<ref name=sun>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After Hughes's death in 1976, the hotel remained under the Summa Corporation, which completed the extensive renovation that he had ordered.<ref name="az"/> Summa sold the hotel to Kirk Kerkorian and the Tracinda Corporation in 1986, and it became known as the MGM Desert Inn.

In 1992, Frank Sinatra celebrated his 77th birthday at the hotel in an event that generated much media attention. Dick Taylor, the CEO of public relations firm Rogers & Cowan recalled: "We had the stars assemble in the casino's presidential suite and then took them in limos to the entrance of the hotel, where the press and hundreds of fans were gathered, like a Hollywood movie premiere. The stars were interviewed on the red carpet and in they went to the famed Crystal Room. It was a very big deal."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Modern historyEdit

File:Desert Inn golf 1970.jpg

The golf course, which was retained with the opening of Wynn Las Vegas

Kerkorian sold the resort<ref name="az"/> to ITT Sheraton in 1993 for $160 million and it was renamed the Sheraton Desert Inn.<ref name="a2zlasvegas.com">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In May 1994, ITT Sheraton announced plans to build the Sheraton Desert Kingdom, a $750 million, 3,500-room megaresort on the property, adjacent to the existing Sheraton Desert Inn.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> When ITT Sheraton bought Caesars World in December 1994, plans for the new resort were shelved.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1997, ITT Sheraton undertook a $200 million renovation of the Augusta Tower and St. Andrews Tower and expansion,<ref name="GER">Template:Cite book</ref> with the building and completion of the Palms Tower. The resort was returned to its historic name, The Desert Inn, dropping the Sheraton name, and was placed in the ITT Sheraton Luxury Collection division. ITT Sheraton itself was sold the following year to Starwood.<ref name="az"/>

Due to losing money, Starwood immediately put The Desert Inn up for sale, and contracted a sale to Sun International Hotels Ltd. on May 19, 1999, for $275 million.<ref name="az"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The sale to Sun International fell through the following March, however.<ref name="a2zlasvegas.com"/> Also in 1999, Sinatra's and the Rat Pack's estate managers, Sheffield Enterprises Inc., sued the Desert Inn, claiming an infringement of rights in their use of Sinatra's name and persona in its advertising and sales, including the words "Frank", "Ol' Blue Eyes", "the chairman of the Board" and "The Rat Pack". Sinatra's estate specifically objected to their use in "billboard advertising, marquees, alcoholic beverages and wine menus, and on the front and back of tee-shirts and caps at its gift shop" and alleged photographs of Sinatra and his signature on the walls behind the bar near the entrance to the Starlight Lounge of the Desert Inn.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Desert Inn celebrated its 50th anniversary on April 24, 2000. Celebrations were held for a week and a celebrity golf tournament was held with the likes of Robert Loggia, Chris O'Donnell, Robert Urich, Susan Anton, Vincent Van Patten and Tony Curtis. As part of the festivities, a time capsule was buried in a granite burial chamber on April 25, to be reopened on April 25, 2050.<ref name="az"/> Three days later, on April 27, Steve Wynn purchased the resort from Starwood for $270 million. Wynn closed the Desert Inn at 2:00 a.m. on August 28, 2000.<ref name="az"/>

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On October 23, 2001, the Augusta Tower, the Desert Inn's southernmost building,<ref name=latimes.com2001>Template:Cite news</ref> was imploded to make room for a mega-resort that Wynn planned to build.Template:Sfn Coming a month after the September 11 attacks, the implosion was marked with less fanfare than previous Las Vegas demolition spectacles due to its similarity to the collapse of the Twin Towers.Template:Sfn Originally intended to be named Le Rêve, the new project opened as Wynn Las Vegas. The remaining two towers, the St. Andrews Tower and Palms Tower were both temporarily used as the Wynn Gallery, spanning Template:Convert to display some of Wynn's art collection.<ref name="LS01">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The St. Andrews Tower and Palms Tower were finally imploded on November 16, 2004.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Architecture and featuresEdit

The initial hotel, a $6.5 million property set in 200 acres, was designed by Hugh Taylor who was hired after Wilbur Clark and Wayne McAllister could not agree on the design. Interiors were by noted New York architect Jac Lessman.<ref name=brief/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The property conveyed the image of a "southwestern spa"Template:Sfn that was "half ranch house, half nightclub".<ref name=brief>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was built of "cinder blocks but trimmed with sandstone and finished throughout the inside with redwood".Template:Sfn The logo of the hotel was a Joshua tree cactus.Template:Sfn The driveway into the hotel passed under an "old-fashioned ranch sign" bearing the name Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn in scripted letters.<ref name=brief/> The Desert Inn was the first hotel in Las Vegas to feature a fountain at the entrance. A "Dancing Waters" show involved the fountain jets choreographed to music.Template:Sfn

The interior of the hotel was finished in redwood with flagstone flooring.<ref name=brief/> The public space included a registration area, a casino, two bars, a coffee shop, a restaurant, various commercial shops and services, and a broadcasting station for K-RAM radio.<ref name=brief/> Guest rooms were located in wings situated behind the main building, surrounding the figure-eight swimming pool.<ref name=brief/> The hotel originally had 300 rooms, each outfitted with air conditioning with individual thermostats.Template:Sfn<ref name="ON"/>

The lounge was located in a three-story, glass-sided tower at the front of the hotel known as the Sky Room, which was the largest structure on the Strip at the time of its construction and commanded views of the mountains and desert all around, as well as overlooked the "Dancing Waters" feature.<ref name=brief/><ref name="ON">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Sky Room restaurant was headed by a chef formerly of the Ritz Paris.Template:Sfn

The original performance venue at the Desert Inn was the 450 seat Painted Desert Room, later the Crystal Room, which opened in 1950 with 450 seats. Charles Cobelle created the handpainted murals, and a "band car" was used to move the orchestra within the showroom.Template:Sfn Next door was a restaurant, the Cactus Room. The Kachina Doll Ranch was a supervised play area for guests' children.Template:Sfn The hotel had a ladies salon and health club from the outset.Template:Sfn Another performance venue at the hotel was the Lady Luck Lounge.<ref name="JAA">Template:Cite book</ref>

File:1970 Desert Inn.jpg

The hotel in 1970

The hotel had its first addition when in 1963 the St. Andrews Tower was built. The tower was designed by William B. Tabler. A near-identical tower by Tabler was built concurrently at the Stardust, which was under common ownership.<ref name="CJ"/> In the 1970s, the hotel underwent a $54-million renovation under Howard Hughes, which resumed under the responsibility of the Summa Corporation after his death in 1976.<ref name="az"/> The 14-story Augusta Tower became the Desert Inn's main tower when it was completed in 1978. The seven-story Wimbledon Tower contained duplex suites,Template:Sfn and resembled a modern version of a Mayan pyramid.Template:Sfn It overlooked the golf course and was built at the same time,Template:Sfn bringing the total room count to 825.<ref name=cont/> By 1978, most of the 1950s structures on the property had been replaced with modern buildings<ref name=cont>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the property was renamed the Desert Inn and Country Club. It featured full country club amenities open to guests of the hotel, including a club house, driving range, pro shop, restaurant and lounge at the golf club; 10 tournament-class outdoor tennis courts; and a Template:Convert spa.<ref name=cont/><ref name=grimm>Template:Cite journal</ref> Three restaurants were added: the "small, intimate" Monte Carlo Room, the "gourmet" Portofino Room, and the Ho Wan Chinese restaurant.<ref name=cont/> At the time of its sale to ITT-Sheraton in 1993, the Desert Inn had the largest frontage of any casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, measuring Template:Convert feet.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1997, the Desert Inn underwent a $200 million renovation and expansion by Steelman Partners,<ref name="GER"/> giving it a new Mediterranean-looking exterior with white stucco and red clay tile roofs.<ref name="NYT247"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The room count was reduced to 715 to provide more luxurious accommodations.<ref name=cont/> The nine-story Palm Tower was completed, the lagoon-style pool was added, and notable changes were made to the Grand Lobby Atrium, Starlight Lounge, Villas Del Lago, and new golf shop and country club.<ref name="az"/><ref name=cont/> The seven-story lobby, fully built in marble,<ref name="NYT247">Template:Cite news</ref> was also a major part of the renovation.<ref name="az"/>

CasinoEdit

At its opening in 1950, the casino, at Template:Convert, was one of the largest in Nevada at the time.Template:Sfn The windowless room included "five crap tables, three roulette wheels, four black jack tables and 75 slot machines", together with a sportsbook.<ref name=brief/> Hundreds of coin-operated gambling machines – including slot machines, video poker, 21, and keno – were installed during the 1978 renovation.<ref name=cont/> The casino acquired a reputation for attracting the high rollers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On January 27, 2000, the Megabucks jackpot record for Las Vegas was broken when $34,955,489 was won by an anonymous gambler at the Desert Inn, playing a bank of six Megabucks machines near the hotel's coffee shop.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Golf course and country clubEdit

File:Ed Sullivan Red Skelton Wilbur Clark Desert Inn Las Vegas 1959.JPG

(L. to r.) Ed Sullivan, Red Skelton and Wilbur Clark playing golf at the hotel in June 1959

The 18-hole, par-72<ref name=grimm/> Desert Inn Golf Club opened in 1952. Initially, Dalitz had pushed the idea of opening a golf course next to the hotel with an entrance off the Strip, which would be accessible to other hotels and boost the city's profile as a resort destination. When other hotel owners rejected this idea, Dalitz built the course on the hotel premises.Template:Sfn He also opened an outdoor dining area, to accommodate golfers and swimmers who might prefer a more informal atmosphere.<ref name="golf dining">Template:Cite news</ref> The course hosted the PGA Tour Tournament of Champions from 1953 to 1966,<ref name="CJ">Template:Cite book</ref> attracting professional golfers such as Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus.Template:Sfn Allard Roen was director of the tournament for many years and was instrumental in breaking down the race barrier on the Strip. He broke the all-white club convention by permitting Sammy Davis, Jr. to play on the course.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> From 1958 it hosted the Golf Cup Golf Tournament, the largest tournament in the world for amateur golfers.<ref name="LVS">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Morelli House State Historical Marker No. 270.JPG

State Historical Marker in front of the relocated Morelli House

According to the Las Vegas Sun, the course "held the distinction of being the only golf course in the United States to have annually hosted three championship tour events – the PGA Tour's Las Vegas Invitational, the Las Vegas Senior Classic and the LPGA Las Vegas International".<ref name="LVS"/> The Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational, now the Las Vegas Invitational, returned to the Desert Inn in 1983, and became known as the wealthiest PGA event in the world. It has since been won by the likes of Fuzzy Zoeller, Curtis Strange, Greg Norman, and Paul Azinger. The Las Vegas Senior Classic event at the Desert Inn was added to the Senior PGA Tour in 1986 and has since been won by Bruce Crampton (1986), Al Geiberger, who equaled the course record at the time of 62 (1987), Larry Mowry (1988) and Lee Trevino (1992).<ref name="LVS"/>

Wilbur Clark was the first to build a home on the golf course in the 1950s.<ref name=brief/> Additional homes were added to the Desert Inn Country Club Estates from the 1960s on. During his ownership of the hotel, Howard Hughes built 100 residential units on the property.Template:Sfn After Steve Wynn purchased the resort in 2000 and announced that the real estate was too valuable to leave as a golf course, homeowners were forced to sell their properties to Wynn and his property developer Irwin Molasky. Molasky bought homes closest to the golf course for $2 million each, and homes on the perimeter of the resort for $900,000 to $1.2 million each. The Junior League of Las Vegas convinced Wynn to save one house from demolition and moved it to a lot in downtown Las Vegas to serve as its headquarters.<ref name=more>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=mercury/> This was the Morelli House, designed by architect Hugh Taylor for Antonio Morelli, a "rare example of modernist architecture in Las Vegas".<ref name=mercury>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The house was subsequently listed on the City and State historic registers.

PerformancesEdit

File:Desert Inn Crystal Room Hello America Revue 1967.jpg

The Hello America Revue in the Crystal Room of the Desert Inn, 1967

Almost every major star of the latter half of the 20th century played at the Desert Inn. Frank Sinatra made his Las Vegas debut at the Desert Inn on September 13, 1951. He later said of it: "Wilbur Clark gave me my first job in Las Vegas. That was in 1951. For six bucks you got a filet mignon dinner and me".Template:Sfn Noël Coward performed at the Inn on one occasion for an entire month.Template:Sfn In 1954, after a performance at the Desert Inn, Betty Hutton announced one of her several retirements.<ref name="Betty Hutton">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1958, Tony Martin was signed to a five-year deal at $25,000 per week, making him the highest paid performer in Las Vegas.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Eddie Fisher was heckled by a disguised Elizabeth Taylor during a 1961 performance,<ref name="fisher and taylor">Template:Cite news</ref> in a year which saw Dinah Shore booked for her fourth performance and debut Vegas performances at the Desert Inn by both Benny Goodman and Rosemary Clooney.<ref name="shore, clooney & goodman">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1979, Jet magazine noted that Wayne Newton was "enthroned" at the Desert Inn as king of entertainment idols", earning $10 million a year, which made him the highest-paid nightclub performer of all time.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Other performers in its famous "crystal showroom" over the years included Patti Page,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Ted Lewis,<ref name="JAA"/> Joe E. Lewis,Template:Sfn Bobby Darin,Template:Sfn Jimmy Durante,<ref name="ON"/> Tony Bennett,Template:Sfn Paul Anka,Template:Sfn Dionne Warwick,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Louise Mandrell,Template:Sfn and more.

Louis Prima and Keely Smith recorded their 1960 Dot Records LP On Stage live at the Desert Inn.Template:Sfn Bobby Darin's famous album Live! At the Desert Inn was recorded at the hotel in February 1971.Template:Sfn In 1992, a week-long celebration of Frank Sinatra's 77th birthday at the Desert Inn was held<ref name="sinatra birthday">Template:Cite news</ref> and later in January it was announced that Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Paul Anka, Shirley MacLaine, Dean Martin, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme had all signed a two-year engagement agreeing to perform at least five weeks annually.<ref name="2-year contracts">Template:Cite news</ref>

Film and televisionEdit

File:Front of Desert Inn 1955.jpg

Classic image of Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn, 1955

Portions of Ocean's 11 were shot at the Desert Inn. It is one of the five Las Vegas hotels robbed on New Year's Eve by the characters played by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and others in the film.Template:Sfn Orson Welles' film F for Fake covers, among other topics, the scandal of a fake biography of Howard Hughes, and the billionaire's Desert Inn residence is illustrated by Welles.Template:Sfn In the 1985 film Lost in America, Julie Hagerty's character Linda Howard loses the couple's "nest egg" at the Desert Inn, leading to a memorable scene in which Albert Brooks' character David Howard tries to convince the Casino manager (Garry Marshall) to give them their money back. David, an ad man, proposes a campaign centered around the generosity of the casino in his case, replete with a jingle: "The Desert Inn has heart... The Desert Inn has heart."Template:Sfn The opening scene to the 1993 film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit took place in the Grand Ballroom of the hotel.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Desert Inn saw its last commercial use in the 2001 film Rush Hour 2, shortly before it was imploded.Template:Sfn It was converted into the "Red Dragon", an Asian-themed casino set.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The hotel served as the primary backdrop for the TV show Vega$ which aired on ABC from 1978 to 1981.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The 1980s Aaron Spelling soap opera Dynasty included footage of the hotel, and use of the Presidential Suite.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The hit 1980s NBC TV series Remington Steele filmed its 60th Las Vegas-set episode at the inn, where both the exterior and interior are shown regularly throughout the episode.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

LegacyEdit

The closure of the Desert Inn in 2000 and subsequent demolition was unpopular with many as it seemed to mark the end of old Las Vegas. Historian Michael Green stated: "To a lot of people outside of Las Vegas, these two places (the Desert Inn and the Sands) really meant Las Vegas. These were the places that represent the images of Las Vegas, in a far greater way than the Dunes, the Aladdin, the Hacienda and the Landmark".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Robert Maheu, Howard Hughes's head of Nevada operations and publicist for many years, remarked that the "Desert Inn was the gem of Las Vegas". The hotel remained popular with locals until the end, as the heavily tourism-driven modern Las Vegas emerged in the 1990s.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Desert Inn RoadEdit

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Desert Inn Road is a 17¼ mile west–east road part of the Las Vegas Valley grid road system. It travels through residential, commercial, and industrial areas and exists as a major thoroughfare in the area. At the Las Vegas Strip exists a 2½ mile expressway portion of the road officially called the Desert Inn Road Super Arterial that acts an arterial road between Winchester and Paradise. The expressway opened in 1996 and had a construction cost of US$84 million.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>